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PTA Council Kicks Off Community Reading Event with Book Giveaway

The first 500 people to register before January 5 for “Turn the Page!” the Alexandria PTA Council’s community reading event, will each receive a free copy of “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”, the program’s featured book. Participants can register online and obtain more information at http://www.acps.k12.va.us/ptac/read.php.

PTA Council president Melynda Wilcox will kick off Turn the Page! with a presentation during the Alexandria City School Board meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 18, in the School Board meeting room at 2000 North Beauregard St., Alexandria. The PTA Council will sponsor the community reading event in cooperation with Alexandria City Public Schools and the Alexandria Library

The program will encourage parents, teachers and community members from across the City to join together to read and discuss “A Whole New Mind”, a long-running - and BusinessWeek bestseller by Daniel H. Pink. Participants will meet to discuss the book informally in small groups, and the author will speak about the book at a special event on February 24, 2009, at T.C. Williams High School.

The sponsors of Turn the Page! will provide a free copy of “A Whole New Mind” to each of the first 500 people who register for the program before January 5. The Alexandria PTA Council has offered to purchase 100 copies of the book, and is currently seeking partners who would be willing to purchase additional copies. Other organizations and individuals already committed to contributing money for books include author Daniel Pink; Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille; the Commonwealth Republican Women's Club; the West End Business Association; and the PTAs from Charles Barrett Elementary School, Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, James K. Polk Elementary School and Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School.

Partners will be listed on promotional materials and will be recognized at the February 24 event.. If your business or nonprofit organization is interested in becoming a Turn the Page! partner, contact Tina Games-Evans, PTA Council vice president of communications, at tgevans8@aol.com or 703.684.3897.

Many community members already have volunteered to lead book-group discussions. Group leaders will arrange for their groups to meet once during January or early February at times and places of their choosing. Suggested discussion questions and other tips for group leaders are available online at http://www.acps.k12.va.us/ptac/read-group-tips.pdf. If you would like to be a group leader, contact PTA Council Board Member Marianne Hetzer at alexturnthepage@gmail.com.